Paul and Lucy Spadoni periodically live in Tuscany to explore Paul’s Italian roots, practice their Italian and enjoy “la dolce vita.”
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Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Villa Bellavista an unexpected pleasure during a bike ride

Monday, March 26

View from the back of Villa Bellavista.

It is generally wise to research before exploring a tourist
site in order to know what one is seeing, and I usually do. But still it is
hard to match the serendipitous thrill of stumbling across something exciting
that you knew nothing about and is not mentioned as a local tourist attraction.
During a bike ride to Borgo a Buggiano today, I notice in the distance a massive baroque-style
building on a knoll, and I as I pull into a parking lot to take a photo from
afar, a workman comes out of a nearby building. “What is that huge building?” I
ask.

He says it once belonged to the Kaiser of Germany, who used
it as a vacation home. All the farms in the surrounding hills used to be
forested, and the Kaiser used them as his hunting grounds, the workman says. He
also tells me what street to take to get a closer look, and soon I am pedaling
up to what I later realize is the rear entrance. It is surrounded by brick
walls and iron gates, and as I circle around, I find both the front and rear
gates are closed. No sign mentions whether this is open to the public, gives
hours of opening or even provides the name of the estate, though I later learn
that this is Villa Bellavista. I do find an aged sign that reads: “For
Assistance of the Sons of the National Fire Department.”

Chapel

As I continue around the villa, I find that the side gate is
wide open and a few cars are parked by some smaller buildings inside. Now I
park my bike and circle the grounds again, only this time right next to the
building. It is surrounded by balconies and has four large towers, one at each
corner. The front entrance has a porch with three arches and a large basin and
fountain spraying water from the center. Imposing statues and trees line the
entrance road. To the right is an elegant chapel. To the left is another huge
building with a plain exterior. Servants’ quarters, perhaps? But no one could
have that many servants. It looks more like a hotel or a factory.

View from front of Villa Bellavista, near Borgo a Buggiano.

Amphibious fire fighting vehicle.

A helicopter and two vintage vehicles provide more evidence
that the building is owned by the fire department. All are emblazoned with “Vigili del Fuoco,” and though they look
well maintained, they don’t appear to be currently active, so perhaps this is
being developed as a historical museum. I realize that I am probably not
supposed to be walking around the grounds, but it is late afternoon and no one
is outside, so I take my time snapping photos.

As I ride slowly off the grounds, I see families working in
the nearby farm fields, and I am struck with the thought that children have the
privilege of growing up in the shadow of this historical villa, though they
likely take it for granted, just as I took for granted many of the blessings of
my childhood.

Back home, I look up the villa on the Internet and find very
little information. Marques Francisco Feroni purchased a farmhouse with 45
farms from Grand Duke Cosimo III dé Medici in 1673 and built a flour factory,
so that would explain the large and plain building. The villa was begun in the
1690s and completed in 1699, by which time the owner had been succeeded by his
son Fabio, who then commissioned the building of the chapel. At one time, some
considered it the second most beautiful villa in Italy, according to the
Italian Wikipedia. For financial reasons, the family had to sell the
surrounding farms and finally the estate itself, in 1829.

No online history is provided from 1829 to 1939, but the
story about the Kaiser sounds plausible. It came under government ownership in
1939. It has been used as a rest home for retired fire fighters, and then a hospital
for German soldiers and later for American soldiers. For a while, it was a sun therapy
center and home for orphaned children of fire fighters. It closed completely in
1968 but reopened in 1992 as a museum devoted to the history of local fire
brigades. According to the vigilifuoco.it website, it is open only by
appointment for group tours.

For me, it is more than enough that I have given myself an
unscheduled individual tour of the outside. It is one of the reasons that
taking bike rides in Italy can be so pleasant.

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About Me

First off, before you hassle me about our title, Lucy thought of it. Yes, I know some people may think broad is derogatory, but the etymology is uncertain and she doesn’t find it offensive, and it made me laugh. We have been married since 1974 and are empty-nesters now, which allows me to bring my submerged Italophilia into the open. We first came to live in Italy from February-April in 2011 and have returned during the same months every year. From 2011-2015, we lived in San Salvatore, at the foot of the hilltop city Montecarlo, where my paternal grandparents were born, raised and, in 1908, married. In late 2015, we bought a home in Montecarlo. We come for a variety of purposes: We want to re-establish contact with distant cousins in both Nonno’s and Nonna’s families, we want to learn the language and see what it is like to live as Italians in modern Italy, we like to travel and experience different cultures. Even if we aren’t successful at achieving these purposes, we love Italy and enjoy every moment here, so there is no chance we will be disappointed. I am grateful to God for giving me a wife who is beautiful, clever, adaptable and willing to jump into my dreams wholeheartedly.